Fitch Places One IDR, Debt Ratings of 26 APAC Banks Under Criteria Observation
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Fitch Places One IDR, Debt Ratings of 26 APAC Banks Under Criteria Observation 04 MAR 2020 06:49 AM ET Fitch Ratings - Sydney/Hong Kong/Taipei/Singapore/Bangkok/Seoul/Tokyo - 04 March 2020: Fitch Ratings has placed one Issuer Default Rating (IDR) and various international scale debt ratings of 26 APAC banks under criteria observation (UCO). A full list of the banks is available at the end of this commentary. The UCO placements follow the publication on 28 February 2020 of the updated Bank Rating Criteria, which included changes to the way Fitch rates operating company subsidiaries (OpCos) of banking groups headed by bank holding companies (BHCs) and to the way Fitch notches senior and junior debt ratings from their IDR or Viability Rating (VR) anchors. The updated criteria better reflects continuing developments in bank resolution, notably developments in bank resolution plans, the build-up of bail-in debt buffers that protect more senior creditors and their implication for default risk and recovery prospects for different senior and junior liability classes and for bank and non-bank financial institution operating companies relative to BHCs. Fitch has also reduced the base-case notching for non-performance on additional Tier 1 (AT1) instruments, narrowing the relative gap between Tier 2 and AT1 instruments where Fitch has reappraised its baseline treatment of non-performance risk. Ratings designated as being UCO will be reviewed and resolved as soon as practical and in any case within six months. RATING ACTIONS ENTITY/DEBT RATING PRIOR HIDE RATING ACTIONS Hang Seng Bank Limited LT IDR A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation DBS Bank Ltd. preferred LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation DBS Group Holdings Ltd. senior unsecured LT AA- AA- Under Criteria Observation subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation preferred LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation preferred LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation United Overseas Bank Limited subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation RATING ACTIONS ENTITY/DEBT RATING PRIOR preferred LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Westpac Banking Corporation subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation junior subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation junior subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation National Australia Bank Limited subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation Commonwealth Bank of Australia subordinated LT A+ A+ Under Criteria Observation Macquarie Bank Limited subordinated LT A- A- RATING ACTIONS ENTITY/DEBT RATING PRIOR Under Criteria Observation Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited subordinated LT A- A- Under Criteria Observation CTBC Bank Co., Ltd. subordinated LT A- A- Under Criteria Observation MUFG Bank, Ltd. subordinated LT A- A- Under Criteria Observation Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited subordinated LT BBB+ BBB+ Under Criteria Observation Bank of Queensland Limited subordinated LT BBB+ BBB+ Under Criteria Observation Shanghai Commercial Bank Limited subordinated LT BBB+ BBB+ Under Criteria Observation Woori Bank RATING ACTIONS ENTITY/DEBT RATING PRIOR subordinated LT BBB+ BBB+ Under Criteria Observation KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Auswide Bank Ltd subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Heritage Bank Limited subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation China CITIC Bank International Limited subordinated LT BBB BBB Under Criteria Observation Dah Sing Bank, Limited subordinated LT BBB BBB RATING ACTIONS ENTITY/DEBT RATING PRIOR Under Criteria Observation Southland Building Society subordinated LT BBB- BBB- Under Criteria Observation Chong Hing Bank Limited subordinated LT BBB- BBB- Under Criteria Observation The Co-operative Bank Limited subordinated LT BBB- BBB- Under Criteria Observation VIEW ADDITIONAL RATING DETAILS KEY RATING DRIVERS Fitch has placed one IDR, and the senior debt, subordinated debt and hybrid debt ratings of the 26 issuers on UCO. This reflects the possibility that these ratings will be upgraded or downgraded as a result of the publication of our new Bank Rating Criteria on 28 February 2020, as outlined in more detail in the Rating Sensitivities section of this rating action commentary. LONG-TERM IDR The Long-Term IDR of Hang Seng Bank Limited is driven by its VR and reflects Fitch's assessment that the bank's intrinsic profile is sufficiently strong and balanced to weather further deterioration in Hong Kong's economy without meaningful impairment of key financial metrics. SENIOR UNSECURED DEBT Senior unsecured debt ratings of DBS Group Holdings Ltd. are equalised with its IDR. SUBORDINATED (TIER 2) DEBT Subordinated debt ratings of all banks are notched down once from their respective anchor rating to reflect Fitch's expectation of below-average recoveries. In each case the anchor rating is their VR, except for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited (institutional support-driven IDR) and Woori Bank (sovereign support-driven IDR). HYBRID (TIER 1) DEBT The ratings of hybrid debts with fully flexible coupons, mostly AT1 debt, are notched down five times from their respective VR (two notches for loss severity and three for incremental non-performance risk). RATING SENSITIVITIES LONG-TERM IDR The Long-Term IDR of Hang Seng Bank Limited is placed on UCO, as it is a material subsidiary within the Asian resolution group of its ultimate BHC (HSBC Holdings plc, A+/Stable/a+). Its IDR could be upgraded under the new criteria if Fitch concludes that external senior creditors are likely to benefit from resolution funds ultimately raised by the BHC and designed to protect its senior creditors in a group failure scenario. SENIOR UNSECURED DEBT We have placed the senior unsecured debt rating of DBS Group Holdings Ltd. on UCO because it is issued by a holding company and the rating could be downgraded under the new criteria to reflect below average recovery prospects if buffers of junior debt are likely to be thin, unless conditions under the new criteria for no notching prevail. SUBORDINATED (TIER 2) DEBT We have placed the subordinated (Tier 2) debt ratings of the following issuers on UCO because they could be downgraded to reflect the switch to a baseline notching of two notches for loss severity from the anchor rating under the new criteria (from one notch under previous criteria) unless conditions under the new criteria for one notch prevail. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited Auswide Bank Ltd Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited Bank of Queensland Limited Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited China CITIC Bank International Limited Chong Hing Bank Limited Commonwealth Bank of Australia CTBC Bank Co., Ltd. Dah Sing Bank, Limited DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Heritage Bank Limited Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macau) Limited KASIKORNBANK Public Company Limited Macquarie Bank Limited MUFG Bank, Ltd. National Australia Bank Limited Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited Shanghai Commercial Bank Limited Southland Building Society The Co-operative Bank Limited United Overseas Bank Limited Westpac Banking Corporation Woori Bank HYBRID (TIER 1) DEBT We have placed the ratings of Tier 1 debt with fully flexible coupons of the following issuers on UCO. These bonds could be upgraded to be notched four times from the anchor ratings under the new criteria to reflect a reduction in incremental non-performance risk notching, unless conditions under the new criteria for wider notching prevail. Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited DBS Bank Ltd. DBS Group Holdings Ltd. Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited United Overseas Bank Limited Westpac Banking Corporation Additional information is available on www.fitchratings.com APPLICABLE CRITERIA Bank Rating Criteria (pub. 28 Feb 2020) ADDITIONAL DISCLOSURES Solicitation Status Endorsement Policy DISCLAIMER ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: HTTPS://WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM/UNDERSTANDINGCREDITRA TINGS. 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